Volunteers sought for cancer study

The American Cancer Society is kicking off a drive to enroll a few hundred Inland Empire residents in a massive research study into the factors that play a role in why people get cancer, or avoid it.

The study is known as Cancer Prevention Study 3, or CPS-3, and Dr. John Morgan, a professor at Loma Linda University and an epidemiologist for the California Cancer Registry, spoke of its importance at an enrollment drive kickoff event Monday morning at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Murrieta.

Morgan noted that CPS-1, conducted in the late-1950s, was instrumental in pointing out the link between smoking and cancer. In the 1980s, CPS-2 played a role in proving the link between nutrition, exercise, weight, diet and cancer.

"We have made progress, but we haven't gone nearly as far as we need to go," Morgan said. "So we are winning the war on cancer, but it's incremental, and it's small progress."

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease. Preliminary data from 2011 shows that more than 570,000 Americans died as a result of cancer.

Enrollment in the study, which is expected to last 20 to 30 years, is open to men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 who have no personal history of cancer, with the exception of basal and squamous cell skin cancer. If accepted into the program, they will be expected to fill out surveys every two to three years.

American Cancer Society Director of Healthcare Initiatives Lorene Highbridge said the purpose of the study is to get a more comprehensive view of the personal habits and traits that may or may not play a role in the development of cancer.

"The goal of CPS-3 is to better understand the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer," she said.

Highbridge said the American Cancer Society is using volunteers, which it calls community champions, to help get the word out on the study. Kelli Vigorito, 28, is one of those community champions.

The recent graduate of Cal State San Bernardino was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer that targets the lymph nodes, six years ago. Today she is cancer-free, and she said her experience was life-changing in more ways than one. When she was originally diagnosed, she was planning to major in business. But she ended up getting graduating with a degree in nutrition.

She said she is motivated to get people involved in the study so that any children she might have never hear the words -- you have cancer.

"I know my parents and family and friends who would do that so I didn't have to hear that," Vigorito said. "So, that's where I'm at now. I want to be a part of it and if I can impact somebody to (enroll), then that's what I'm going to do."

Anyone interested in taking part in the study can visit www.cancer.org/cps3, email cps3@cancer.org or call toll-free (888) 604-5888. The actual in-person enrollment for Inland Empire residents will take part at locations in Murrieta, Norco, Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga in late June.

The American Cancer Society's goal is to enroll 300,000 people in the study across the United States by the end of the year.